Busy Bandits face three meetings in three days

Keith Hamblin

Berwick are preparing for a busy weekend with three meetings in three days.

The Bandits travel to Sheffield tonight (Thursday) for their already twice-postponed KO Cup tie, before taking on Workington away and at home on successive nights (Friday and Saturday).

“It’s going to be hectic,” admitted joint team manager Ian Rae.

“We take an 18-point lead to Sheffield for our cup meeting and obviously we will be hoping it is enough to take us through the next round.

“Owlerton is not a track we have enjoyed much success on over the years. As always we will go out trying to win the meeting, but if not we have to defend our advantage.”

High-flying Edinburgh, who have won an amazing 12 out of 12 in all competitions so far this season, await the winners in the quarter-finals and as the Monarchs, have already beaten Berwick at Shielfield in the League Cup this year The Borderers know that they have a potentially very difficult tie in the offing.

“Workington won’t be a push-over either,” admitted Rae. “We lost 51-38 at Derwent Park in the League Cup and only beat them 46-44 at Shielfield, so again we will have to be at our best.

“However, over the last couple of weeks the likes of Matej Kus has started to pick up. Steen Jensen is going well at reserve, and of course Claus Vissing has been scoring well for most of the season. He blew an engine the last time he was at Derwent Park and had a poor night, if he chips in with a few points this time it might make a difference.”

Following Saturday’s 49-41 victory over Ipswich at Shielfield, Rae said: “That wasn’t half a bad match at all with good racing to entertain the fans.

“Our guys were a little off guard early on but got back into the groove and scored well when they needed to although it was unfortunate the Witches lost two of their side through injury and we wish Gino (Manzares) and Cameron (Heeps) all the best for a speedy recovery.”